Healing of Postpartum Depression – Suicide Prevention

Question

Nameste guruji, I am 28yr old female from India delivered a baby boy before 9 months via c section,since i had some lactation problem from beginning we meet a lactation consultant for that,she prescribed me a tablet called perinorm for increasing my milk supply, which in turn produced so many neurological side effects on me.We met so many neurologists but no one is able to provide me correct diagnosis or treatment,currently I am facing more health,financial as well as depression, please help me

Also, one of my friends committed suicide due to depression i just wanted to know whether it is a bad karma?and whether she will suffer for that in her birth? and now i am undergoing sever physical health issues along with psychological issues and wanted to end my life...but as i am afraid that i will create bad karma...but sometimes i feel instead of being alive and create bad thoughts about my health and circumstances its better to die...:( kindly guide me

—Saranya, India

Answer

Dear Sister,

Your two questions cover many areas, so I will begin with your postpartum issues first. I am a mother of 3 grown children and I also have a grandchild. I trained as a home birth midwife years ago, and for the last 25 years or so, I have served as Director of the Ananda Healing Prayer Ministry. So I offer my advice from a combination of that knowledge. Please excuse my lengthy response, but I want to help you as much as possible with this serious combination of difficulties.

You mention the drug, Perinorm. Reportedly, it can have the side effect of depression so I hope you have discontinued taking it. Some women have a tendency toward post-partum depression anyway — so we will have to address that directly, as well as your need to increase your milk supply for your premature baby. Apparently the drug Domperidone has less side effects. Also — it is very helpful if you can increase the amount of water you drink, and eat foods that increase your milk supply.

Those are my practical suggestions, because it is good to look at the obvious things first. Premature babies often do not suckle strongly enough to promote good lactation, so if you cannot increase your milk supply, you may have to go to baby formula. If I was in that situation, I believe at some point, whenever it seemed best for the baby, I would seek to buy raw goat milk from a trusted, healthy source, for it is the closest to human milk. Also — raw milk from a Jersey cow is also very close to human milk. I realize it may be difficult to get these things in India, but a friend of mine in Chennai does manage to buy raw cow milk straight from the dairy farmer. Depending on your situation, make one of the corrections above so you do not have to be on Perinorm anymore.

This affirmation, below, is your best first defense against depression. Please watch the video I made for this affirmation, as it will help you to do it correctly, and with strength and vigor. Please note that you lift the mind to the point between the eyebrows to say this affirmation. This serves as a divine magnet to train your thoughts and energy to come out of the gloomy depths:

A Healing Prayer Affirmation by Paramhansa Yogananda

Focus deeply at the spiritual eye, and repeat three times:

“I will with my own will, which flows from the divine will, to be healthy to be well, to be prosperous and spiritual, to be well, to be well.”

What about the karma of suicide?

Please do not take your life. That would create much worse karma, for you would break the hearts of those around you. Your baby needs you. When you are in those gloomy depths of feeling, and also tired from caring for your new baby, you don’t think straight. But you would regret your action immediately, as soon as you left the body.

God has given you the gift of life, and right now you have many challenges, but you must somehow summon your will power to meet these challenges, which come from karma in the past. If you “jump ship” now — you will still have all of that old karma, as well as the karma of taking away the mother (you!) of your precious baby. Think of this from your baby’s point of view. Your baby is part of God. Would you break the heart of God? Of course not. There is always an answer, and we must seek and find it.

God always loves us, no matter what, even if we make mistakes. Paramhansa Yogananda teaches us that no soul is ever lost. But suicide means that in a future life a person will have to come around to this point and face the same challenges all over again, but they will seem even harder then. This is because by suicide one affirms weakness, instead of finding the inner strength to face the problems.

Suicide comes when person loses all hope. It doesn’t necessarily look “hopeless” to all the heartbroken people left behind, but that is how it felt to the depressed person right then, and then they acted on it. Paramhansa Yogananda said that “reason follows feeling” — so it is paramount that your raise your feelings up (by using the affirmation, above) so that you can reason better in the midst of this stress.

He also taught us this prayer, which will help you very much. Please write it down on a card, and pray it every day: “O Father, Mother, Friend, Beloved God! I will reason, I will will, I will act; but lead Thou my reason, will, and activity to the right things that I should do.”

And we will pray for you. Please feel free to ask for healing prayers every 3-4 weeks to get you through this difficult period. We are here to help you find the divine spark of your soul again. It can also be very helpful if you have a special photo so you can look into the eyes of a Saint or Guru every day. This will help to lift your mind and strengthen your aura immediately.

And finally I offer my condolences on the loss of your friend to suicide. Yes — she will have karma for her action, but ultimately this is how we learn to treasure the gift of life God has given us, including our challenges. This life is a school… and we are here to learn our lessons and grow closer to God. If taken in the right way, our challenges can make us even stronger.

Your friend will benefit greatly from your love, even now. Whenever you think of her, simply send her your love and tell her, “Look up to the Light”. She will receive that love.

I have given you many suggestions, and I know you have a young baby, so please take your time reading through the links I have offered you here. But please do start doing the affirmation right away for it will help you very much.

I will send you my email address, because I want you to tell me how you are doing. Please keep in touch.

In Divine Love,
Mary Kretzmann